Making My Way To Your Heart
by ThisIsFunnn
Summary: A new Ross and Rachel story. AU.
1. Prologue

Hi! Welcome to my new fic, I hope you enjoy reading it, as much as I enjoyed writing it :)

**Making My Way To Your Heart**

Ross was trying to fix his tie. It was early in the morning and being a Tuesday, he was getting ready for work. It had been a couple of years since he'd been working in NYU and he couldn't be happier with his job. It was nice to wake up every day and get to explain to people about what he loved the most: his beloved dinosaurs. His friends would tease him all day that none of his students pay attention to what he tells them during their classes, but Ross wouldn't listen to them. He knew that someday, someone would appreciate all his work and everything he does.

During High School he was known as a geek and he grew up with that nickname. But now, after so many years later, you could say that he was everything but a geek. He grew up into a true gentleman. It's true that he still didn't have a way with woman, he was never good around them, but he would enchant them with his good humor and his manners. He thought that a woman should be treated delicately, with gentle and that a man should give her what she deserved. And that's what he tried to do with every woman he would meet. Yet, he was still waiting for the right woman, the one that would take his breath away whenever she would walk into a room or just when she would look at him.

While he was having these thoughts, he didn't get to hear the knocking on his door. When it got louder, Ross went to open the door. When he opened it, his little sister was there, with a smile on her face.

"What took you so long to answer the door?" She said with a teasing tone.

"Good morning Monica."

"Good morning. I just wanted to let you know that since its Phoebe's birthday tomorrow, we agreed to have a nice dinner with her at my restaurant tonight. I just wanted to make sure that you can make it to dinner, I mean, you don't have plans or anything, right?"

"No Mon, I'm free. Just tell me the hour and I'll be there."

"Okay, then it will be at 7 in my restaurant, I ordered a special menu for the night. It's going to be great!" She said with a big smile on her face, proud of her idea. "And also don't forget to buy Phoebe a present. Not a big thing, you know what she thinks about that."

"Okay ma'am" Ross said, well knowing that if he didn't agree with her she would become crazy.

"See you later then." And with that Monica disappeared on the hallway. Ross did the same thing right after he took a drink to his coffee.

In his office, Ross was grading some papers, when his secretary entered on his office, telling him that he had a call.

"This is Dr. Ross Geller, how can I help you?"

"Hey Ross, I was just calling to ask you if you bought your present to Phoebe, because I was thinking that we could give her a present on behalf the two of us. What do you think?" Joey said hoping that Ross would agree with him.

In that moment, Ross thought about what Monica told him that morning. The day in NYU had been kind of boring, but he totally forgot about the present. Damn, now he would have to think of a good present for Phoebe.

"Sure Joey, have you thoug—" Ross stopped in that moment when he realized what Joey was doing. He did the same thing for Chandler's birthday and he got to fool him then, but now Ross guessed his intentions early. "Joey I know what you're trying to do, and no, I'm not going to help you on that. Look I know that you're having some problems with money right now, but I'm sure that Phoebe would love anything, anything that comes from you, you don't have to buy it. You could give her some flowers from the park and she would be happy." Ross said trying to convince him with the idea.

"Thanks man, actually that's a great idea. I'll go to the park and I'll take some flowers from there. Thanks again, see you later"

"Bye Joe" And with that Ross hung up the phone and continued with his work. He tried to concentrate on the papers he had in front, but he also couldn't forget about Phoebe's present and he knew that he wouldn't stop now and since the day was being very boring, he grabbed his jacket and decided to buy her present now.

He went through lots of stores, but he couldn't find the right present for Phoebe. He knew that she would be happy with anything, just having dinner would be enough for her, but he wanted to give her something that would make her smile widely. Something that she could have it every day with her, something that she would love. And while he was thinking on the perfect present, he saw himself in front of the best store he could think of. That's it he made a choice, he would by the present in this store and he knew that Phoebe would love it.

* * *

Rachel was running late as every morning. She overslept again and now she was trying to hail a cab while she tried to grab all her bags. This was the worst thing of taking work to home. She always had to use an extra bag for those papers, she would spend all night working and the in the morning she would have serious problems to hear the alarm clock. And all that would lead to this situation, she would find herself doing the very same thing every morning and she was getting tired of it.

After what seemed like an eternity, a cab stopped in front of her. With some difficulty, she made her way into the cab, with all her bags. After she told the driver her destination, the cab started his way there. Rachel knew that she had a very long day. Long meeting hours that never seemed to end, accompanied with some other boring meeting. But this was her job and she loved it. She had to fight very hard to be where she wanted to be.

Barry wouldn't let her have any job, but when she found out that she didn't love him and run away from her wedding, she knew that she had to start from zero.

This was a new start for her, a new start for Rachel.

A new Rachel.

She even thought about changing her name, but her father would kill her if she did that. Besides, her parents weren't happy with the decision she made, by leaving Barry at the altar. She knew that it was a risky choice, but she did it for her. She couldn't be with Barry anymore, and the thought of spending the rest of her life linked to him, made her shiver. Even now, while she was in the cab and thinking of that, she felt a not very great feeling inside her.

Yes, she made a great choice and now she was demonstrating that to all the people who thought that she would go back to Barry's arms.

When the cab stopped in front of the building, Rachel paid the driver and just when she got out of the cab, it started to rain. '_Great'_, she thought, _'a great way to start a crappy day'_. And she forgot her umbrella in her apartment, so all she could do was to run until she reached the main doors.

Lately, her days in Ralph Lauren had been hard. She was just promoted to be the head of the junior department and her position was more important on the company. This led to have less time for her. And that's what she'd missed the most.

When she was younger, she used to love to get ready to go on a date and all of that. She would spend hours and hours in front of the mirror and then some more hours fixing her make-up.

But now she didn't have time for that. Her days were written already. She would go to work and then go back to her apartment, late at night. That would happen on weekdays. Over the weekend, she would continue working or make some quick visit to her father or mother in Long Island. They divorced a few years ago and Rachel knew that her presence was very much appreciated.

Her latest dates were horrible. They were guys that people of her office set her up. She really didn't want to go to those dates, but she didn't have other choice. She would see some of her workmates becoming engaged or pregnant, and Rachel would love to live that too. She wanted to get married and have children, but she needed to find the right person for that. The thing is that with the little success that she had with her previous dates, she started believing that that man didn't exist, that the romanticism that was portrayed on movies and books was fiction, there wasn't a person in this world that lived that. It was impossible to find someone who would make you live that…

* * *

Ross was running as fast as he could. He knew that he was late and that Monica wouldn't like to see him arriving late, but he didn't have other choice. Right when he was about to leave his office, the dean came asking him if he could ask him some questions about the trimester. And that went longer than Ross expected.

He took a look to his watch and he noticed that he was 15 minutes late. If it were a normal dinner, that wouldn't be that late, but considering that we're talking a dinner with Monica, 15 minutes are like 15 centuries for her. And as he expected, when he entered the restaurant, Monica was already waiting for him in front of the door.

"Mon, I'm really sorry. The dean came in the last minute asking all these questions and I couldn't get out of it. I'm really sorry. Is everybody here?" He asked, slightly worried about his sister's reaction.

"So you're late and also making excuses?" Monica said teasing him. "Don't worry Ross. I was about to call you where you were, you're never late and I was starting to worry here." She said giving him a warm hug.

They walked to the table that Monica got for them. Everybody was already there and by everybody we mean, Phoebe, Chandler and Joey. Ross hugged them all and he gave a warm kiss on the cheek to Phoebe.

"Happy birthday Phoebe."

"Thank you, but actually my birthday is tomorrow, so don't congratulate me until then. This dinner is just a start to my special day." Phoebe said.

Ross chuckled at that. Phoebe never ceases to amaze him.

"So where is Mike?" Chandler asked her.

"Oh, he had a gig. But we're having dinner tomorrow night. I can't wait!" Phoebe said very excited. She had been going out with Mike for a few months now and her friends had never seen her so happy. She went out with David and had a very passionate relationship with him, but then he got a job offer in Europe and their relationship was broken. She suffered a lot those first months, but Mike is the light she needed.

Dinner went really good. As always they talked about everything, ready to listen what the other had to tell. Every now and then Chandler would make a sarcastic comment that the other already heard a million times, but they knew that nothing could change their friend. Monica shut him up with a kiss, making him promise to her that he would tell more jokes for the night or they wouldn't have sex for two weeks and he also would have to sleep on the couch. At this, Chandler only could shut his mouth for the night and barely spoke the rest of the evening.

"Okay guys, I'm sorry to ruin this lovely moment, but I have to get going. I have a date tonight and I already should be with her. Pheebs, happy birthday and enjoy the rest of the night. See you tomorrow!" And with that Joey was out of the restaurant.

Ross laughed to what Joey did. He couldn't understand how he could do it. Every night he had a date, with a different woman. Ross, instead, was the kind of man that liked to be with a woman. He liked stability, to make sure that the relationship was going somewhere. That's why it was so hard to find the right woman lately. All of them wanted to have a good night with him and nothing more. He wanted more, he needed more.

Monica watched her brother. He had a weird look on his face and she could tell what he was thinking.

"So Ross how was the date you had last week? We never got to talk about that." Monica asked him.

"Oh, it went well." Ross said, as if it wasn't important.

"Only well?"

"Yes."

"I thought that she was your type. It got me a lot of time to convince her to go on a date with you and you say that it went well?" Monica asked him surprised.

"Yes Monica, it went well. Look I know that you wanted me to have dinner with her and maybe she thought that I was going to call her the next day, but she just didn't make any impression on me. I need a woman who can impress me every time and she didn't. Yes, she is really beautiful, but I need more than that." Ross tried to explain himself.

"Well, I don't know if she told you but she's working on a PhD, so she's beautiful plus smart." Monica said smiling.

"Mon, you know that it's not about that."

"And what do you want? Look, I can introduce you to this one. I used to know her and it's true that I haven't talked to her lately, but I'm sure that she would love to go on a date with you. Maybe she's not that smart, but I think that she's beautiful and she has a great body." Monica didn't know what to tell him. If this didn't convince him, then she didn't know what else to do. She cared about her brother and she wanted to see him happy. Ever since he divorced from Carol, he never was the same. She was his one true love and he lost it. Maybe this new girl could be his next true love…

"Okay, give me her number, but I can't promise anything. If I don't call her, don't come to me saying that she was great and all these things. I will know what's best for me when I'm with her." Ross said, in a part to shut his sister's mouth, because he knew that if he didn't agree now, she would be asking questions every time.

Monica wrote the phone number of her friend on a paper and she gave it to Ross.

"Call her tomorrow. I'll check if you do it or not" She told him, and he knew that she was serious.

A few moments later and some more talk, the thought that it was the time to go home. It was getting late and they had to go to work the next day. As they exited the restaurant, Phoebe grabbed Ross from the arm.

"Ross I understand you, don't worry. I know that there's a woman out there for you and sooner or later. Just keep waiting. Monica only wants to see you happy." Phoebe told him.

"Thanks Pheebs. I really appreciate that." He said giving another kiss on the cheek.

"Any time" She said smiling.

"Look, someone will go to your apartment tomorrow with my present, so make sure to be there by midday. I hope you like it" He told her.

"Thank you Ross, you really shouldn't take all that time for my present, you know that I would be happy with nothing."

"I know that, but I want this for you. I want you to remember me every time you use it, and I hope it's a lot of times." He said.

"I will, don't worry. Well, I should get going. I'm sure that Mike is already at home and I want to spend some time with him." With that Phoebe was on her way to her house, leaving Ross alone with Monica and Chandler.

While he watched them he could feel happier for them. At first it made him a little bit uncomfortable to see them together, but he saw how much they meant to each other and how perfect they were together, so all he could do was to be happy for them. And they have been together for 3 years already, you can see that they got married a few weeks ago.

They shared a cab, they were going to the same street anyway. When the cab stopped in front of their buildings, they got out and said goodbye. But first Monica had to make sure about something.

"Ross, promise me that you will call her." Chandler couldn't believe his wife. He knew that she would do this and he loved her for that, but he also knew Ross and he doubted if he would call this mysterious girl.

"I will." Ross said.

"Good night!"

"Good night!"

And they walked into their respective apartments.

* * *

Rachel opened the door to her apartment totally soaked. The bad weather wasn't helping with her humor this day. She hated these days. But she knew that she had to prove everybody that she could do this and more, but sometimes she felt like she didn't have the energy of going further.

"I need to do this, for me and for all these people that never believed in me" She said to herself.

She went to the kitchen and took a bottle of wine, well knowing that that would relax her a little bit. But when she went to the living room and saw the pile of work papers, she knew that she had an exciting night, another night working. For a moment she thought of not doing it, of not working that night, but she knew that she had to. The next day she would have more boring meetings and she had to prepare herself for those.

And with very enthusiasm, she started working.

* * *

Ross was ready to go to bed when he saw the piece of paper in his desk table. He took the paper and looked at the phone number and also the name. He tried to imagine what she would look like, basing on her name and also on the description Monica gave him. She told him that she's beautiful, but he had doubts. He had doubts about everything. He looked again at the piece of paper and thought if she should call her.

He put the piece of paper on his nightstand and went to bed.

End of Chapter 1. I hope we'll see each other again in the next chapter ;)


	2. Meeting

**Making My Way To Your Heart – Chapter 2**

Rachel woke up when she heard the loud noise. She looked at the alarm clock and it marked 6:45.

It was time to get up. Finally she wouldn't be late to work.

She woke up with some difficulty. She hadn't been sleeping well lately and she felt very tired. She went to the shower and in the bathroom she took some time to look at her image in the mirror. She looked older, the black holes under her eyes were more visible now and she didn't even make the effort to hide those. Her hair also looked very messy and she wouldn't make a lot of effort by solving that, but just then she remembered the day she had today.

As she entered in the shower and felt the hot water in her body, she felt a lot better. She thought of this day. A day full of meetings again. But this time it was different. Some big people were coming and they had to present what they've been working in the last weeks. The hard work finally was ending. Of course, she would have to go to work every day from now on too, but also she would have more time to herself. But more time for what? She didn't have the energy to go out and even less to go out alone.

Since she ran away from her wedding, she didn't make a lot of friends. Most of them were her co-workers and most of them had a boyfriend, were married or had some other friends and they didn't have all their time in the world to be with her. So most of the times, when they would propose to Rachel to go out, she would refuse, justifying with a ridiculous excuse.

When she got out of the shower she looked at the mirror again. She could say that she looked different now, she couldn't believe how that shower made her feel a lot better. And then she noticed all the products she had to use later. She wanted to look perfect for that big meeting she had in the afternoon. She thought that it was ridiculous to use all that products, she felt like she was going to use a mask. A little bit of make-up would be fine for her, but all her co-workers were the type of people who would use a lot of those things and even if Rachel wasn't very comfortable like that, she knew that it had to be that way.

After she was done in the bathroom, she went to her bedroom, to choose the perfect outfit. She had lots of clothes to choose and while she was navigating in her closet, she thought about the last dress she bought. It was a casual dress, but also very elegant. It was black and it fit her perfectly. _'A perfect dress for today'_, she thought. She put the dress on and then looked for a couple of shoes that would match. After she was done, she made some coffee, took all her bags and she was out for her big day.

Just when she closed the door, her phone started ringing…

* * *

Ross woke up in a cheerful mood. He didn't know why he felt that, but he felt like something different was about to happen. Midterms just finished a couple of days ago, which meant that he wouldn't have to work that hard all day. He was done grading the papers and he also talked with all of his students.

He felt good this morning. Until he saw the piece of paper on the nightstand. The piece of paper that Monica gave him when they celebrated Phoebe's birthday. It had been there for a while now, since he put it there the night Monica gave it to him. And every day, when he woke up, it would be one of the first things he would see. During all day he would constantly think of what to do with it. He wasn't sure yet.

At first he would think of ignoring the piece of paper, but then he would think about what Monica told him, and how she really wanted this for him. He took the piece of paper in his hands and looked at what it was written. He was sure that he knew by heart the name and the phone number already. He would stare at it every day and every day he would think the same thing: should I call her? For what Monica said she sounded interesting, but the important thing was that Ross liked her. Monica could love her and all of that, but in the end, if Ross didn't like her, there wasn't anything to do. So, as he did every day, he took the piece of paper and put it inside of the jacket.

He got dressed and even if he was in a good mood today, he didn't feel like making coffee right now. So without thinking twice, he took his jacket and got out of the door.

He knew that one of his friends would be in Central Perk and he felt like being with them. With all the exams and all the work he had, in the last few weeks he wasn't able to be with his friends as much as he could, but from today on, he would spend as much time with them as he could. When he reached the door of Central Perk, he knew that he was right. Phoebe was there with her new guitar, the one that Ross bought to her for her birthday. When she received it, she immediately called Ross, thanking him a million of times. Ross knew that she would be happy. Lately she had been complaining that the strings of her old guitar weren't the same and that maybe she was thinking on buying a new guitar, but she had no money to do that, so Ross enjoy this opportunity.

"Hey Phoebe!" Ross said.

"Good morning Ross. You seem very happy today." Phoebe answered him smiling.

Ross could hide his smile either.

"Yeah, I don't know why but I woke up like this today."

"Well good for you Ross."

"I'm going to the counter to order something, do need anything?" Ross asked her.

"No, I just finished mine, thank you."

"Okay then."

Ross went to the counter. Gunther was cleaning some cups and also trying to explain a new waitress how the coffee machine works.

"Hey Gunther. Can I have a black coffee please?"

"Sure." A few seconds later he gave Ross the cup of coffee. "There you go."

"Thank you." Ross went to the orange couch again, where Phoebe was trying to sing something.

"_Don't kiss me, you smell like a pig,_

_Leave me alone, I need to pee…_"

"Is that a new song Phoebe?" Ross asked her.

"Yeah, I think that 'Smelly Cat' is already an old song. I love it, but as a great singer that I am, I need to work on new songs. Plus Mike tries to help me with the piano too. And I was thinking last night, that maybe we could me a great musical couple, don't you think?"

"Sure, Mike could play the piano and you could play the guitar. That sounds great." Ross said trying to convince her that her idea was the best one she ever had. "Hey, maybe if you want I can work with you too. Remember that I play the keyboards, and if I rehearse a little bit more, we would make a great group!" Ross said clearly imagine himself with Mike and Phoebe in some club, playing their music.

"Oh, we would have to think on that Ross." Phoebe said, not very convinced with the idea her friend just had.

"Don't you have to go to work Ross?"

"Yes, but you know how midterms just finished, so I don't have to go until another hour. But I just remembered that I need to go to this place, so I'm going to get going. I'll see you later!"

"See you!" Phoebe said, as she continued with her song.

Ross entered in the first cab that stopped in front of him. When he told the driver the direction he needed to go and as he did it every day, he entered his hand in the pocked of his jacked. He took the piece of paper and stare at it again. He knew that he had to make a choice. It's not that he had been avoiding Monica, but whenever she was with him, he feared that she was going to ask him if he called her, if he really went on a date with her. But he already had a plan. If he asked her if he called her, he would have to answer that he didn't and he could use the excuse of work. But now that he wasn't so busy at work, he had to think of something else.

It's not that he didn't want to meet this new woman. He was sure that he would have a great time with her, but he also knew what this meant. It would mean to start from zero all over again. He would meet a new woman, start dating her, then their relationship would be more serious and like that until they're married and have children. And he wanted all of that. He really wanted to do that with a woman, he wanted to go on that road, but he felt tired. He felt tired of meeting a new woman every now and then and had to choose of she was the one or not.

And until now it had been easy.

Most of the dates he had were because of Joey. He would tell Ross that he needed to date, so he would give him a phone number of one of his previous dates and Ross would go on a date with her. The date would be fine, he would enjoy a lot. But when he would arrive to his apartment and think about it, if she could be the perfect wife, the perfect mother for his children, his answer to all of those questions was easy. He was tired of saying no to all of them.

So, why all of a sudden this girl was different from those other women?

* * *

Monica was in her restaurant deciding on the menu of today, when her boss came.

"Monica, they just called me, the salmon will be here in five minutes. I told them you'd be here."

"Of course. I'm deciding on the menu for tonight. Do you think that a salad is good for today?"

"Whatever you want Monica, you're the chef." Her boss said with a smile.

Monica knew that she was the best at her job. She tried to be the best. She had worked in a lot of places, and when they called her from Alessandro's, she couldn't be happier. This was the best job she ever had and she was demonstrating that to every people who would came to eat her food every night. Not only that, she loved to hear compliments. And she used to have every night.

"Monica?" She heard suddenly.

When she looked up she saw a familiar face.

"Tiffany! What are you doing here?" She hugged the girl.

"I don't know if they told you or not, but I'm the waitress you were looking for." Tiffany said with a big excitement.

"Oh, that's great. I'm really happy to work with you again. I mean, the last time we worked together was like ages ago. And you were good! Or at least the only one who could understand me and the only one who didn't laugh when I proposed that we should cook the salads on the left side of the kitchen and the soups on the right side."

"Yeah, I thought that you were crazy when you said that, but I tried to be cool with you. The last thing I wanted was for you not to like me. Let's face, you were the boss." Tiffany says, remembering the days in which she used to work with Monica. She still thought that she was a little bit crazy, but in the end she understood her craziness, other than that, she wouldn't be Monica.

"So, you start tonight?" Monica asked her.

"Yes, I'm a little bit nervous, you know, the first day and the whole thing, but know that I know that you're here, I know that everything is going to be fine."

"Of course that it will be." Monica said. She kept looking at Tiffany and thinking. She was a great girl, a very lovely girl. She was sure that she could make a man very happy. Yes, she did a very well by coming here. Tiffany could notice that Monica had a weird look on her face. She seemed to be in her thoughts.

"Monica, are you alright?" Tiffany asked her, starting to worry about her.

"Oh, yeah, I'm sorry I was thinking a little bit." Monica looked at Tiffany with the same look she had while she was thinking.

"Are you sure?" Tiffany asked her again.

"Yes. Tiffany, can I ask you a question? Would you ever…?" Monica started.

"Would I ever what?" Tiffany wanted to know.

But Monica thought again. No, she didn't have the right to ask. If she had to know something, she would know.

"You know what? It doesn't matter." Monica said.

"Okay. So what menu do we have tonight?"

And with that Monica forgot about her question and started explaining Tiffany about the menu she was deciding.

* * *

Ross entered in his office. He just finished the last class of today, so he could go home whenever he wanted. But before he could to that, he had to do some other things. During the drive from Central Perk to the university, he was able to think about his life. He knew that his life could change if he could. But was he really ready for that change?

He knew that time was passing. He couldn't stay all day waiting for a girl to appear in his life, so suddenly. That only happened in movies. You meet a girl in the street and in no time you fall in love with her, you marry her and your life is perfect from that moment. But that's not life. Ross is not on a set of a movie. He's living a real life. His life. He would love if it was different, if he already was married and he was happier, but the choice wasn't that easy.

The only time he had been married, he was the happiest person in the world. He really thought that Carol was the woman he wanted to spend all his life with. When they got married they were young, but there was a lot of passion, they had a lot of dreams, and most importantly, they wanted the same things. They could talk about the future all the time, they would talk about having children and all of that. And they had a kid. Ben. It was the best thing that could ever happen to Ross.

But it was late already. Carol was with Susan. The dream of having a family with Carol now wasn't a dream anymore, it was a hypothetical case of the past. And it's what Ross most missed.

Finally he had a child. His son. A baby that was created from the love of his parents. He knew that he would love Carol all his life, they lived a lot together and he also knew that Carol would love him all her life too. But now, she was with Susan. It was a real shock for Ross to discover that his wife and a lover, a lover that was a woman. The first months were difficult for him. It was then when Carol told him that she was pregnant too, so the shock it was bigger. And if it was in his hands, he would change some things, but he was glad about how the things turned. Everybody was happy.

And he was happy to have Ben in his life. He could never think that he could love a person so much. He was the best thing that happened to Ross, and he wish he could spend more time with him, but with the entire thing with Carol and Susan, it made things different. But he would spend most of the weekends with Ben, so every Friday afternoon Ross would be waiting in front of his school to pick him up for the weekend.

Ross collected all his thoughts and took his cell phone. He started dialing a number…

* * *

Rachel was running as always, with her bags in her hands. She just finished her first meeting and she was trying to hail a cab. Her next meeting was in the other side of the city and she already felt stressed. This was the big meeting she was waiting for. She had been working very hard and now people would see how good she was at her job, how she was the best person they had on the department. Just when she thought that a cab saw her with her hands up, her phone started ringing. Rachel threw all her bags to the floor and looked for her cell phone. She was sure that she put it on her purse, but it wasn't there. Finally she took the cell phone from her jacket, just when the call was about to finish.

"Hello?" Rachel said, almost out of breath.

"Rachel?" Someone asked from the other side.

"Yes, it's me. Who's this?" She asked. With all the ringing she forgot to look who was calling.

"Dear, it's your mother. Don't you recognize my voice?" Her mom told her.

"Hello mom. Sorry. It's just that I'm running late to a meeting and at this time of the day it's impossible to hail a cab. But why are you calling me?" Rachel asked. Her mom wouldn't call her in the middle of the day if it wasn't for something important.

"It's nothing dear. You know that Kate's wedding is in a month and I just saw her mother and she told me if you decided if you're coming or not. She told me that they have to tell the restaurant the exact number of guests and she told me that you're the only one who hasn't given them an answer." Sandra explained.

Rachel took a large breath. Going to this wedding was the last thing she wanted to do. She knew that all her family would be there. And there would be a lot of questions to answer, like always. Every time she reunited with her family, there were some questions that had to be asked, like the traditional _'Are you dating someone?'_ or _'When is going to be your wedding?'_. Rachel hated those questions, because before they were asked she already knew the answer to all of them: no. No I'm not dating anyone and no, I'm not getting married. Yet. Or at least that is what she would like to answer.

She wished she could say no to her mother, but she would be so disappointed…

"Mom, the thing is that I have been working very hard for the last few weeks and I haven't had time to think about that…" Rachel tried to explain.

"But Rachel, they told me that they need to know as soon as possible and also I think that it would be a great chance to introduce us to your new boyfriend. Because you're dating someone, right?" Sandra wanted to know.

Rachel couldn't take it anymore. She knew that her mother loved her, but there were moments in which she couldn't stand her. And this was one of those moments.

"Look mom. I know that you would love to see me there. But I'm not going. I hate those weddings in where everybody acts like they're perfect. But they're not mom. You're not perfect and I'm not either. So you make any excuse you want, you're great doing that. And for once leave me alone for a bit. Now if you excuse me I have a meeting. Bye." Rachel told her mother all that very quickly, before she hung up. It was the first time she did that to her mother, but not the first time she wanted to do it.

With that, she took all her bags from the floor and again started hailing a cab.

* * *

About three hours later, Ross was walking in the busy streets of New York. It's not that he liked to be pushed while he walked with no hurry. He was in a calm mood. But it was something that he couldn't change. This is New York and in this city everybody runs. And that didn't mean that it bothered him. He knew that it was going to be like this, so he tried to accept the situation he was in.

The weather was not the best you could ask for. They were some grey clouds in the sky, but Ross didn't seem to matter. He was extremely happy that day, that moment. Extremely and ridiculously happy. He had a goofy grin on his face, and the best thing of that it was that he really didn't know why it was that. It's not that he got promoted at work or they choose him for a dig in South America. Nothing out of normality happened that day.

Maybe he had the hope that something was about to happen, but who was he to say that? Nothing ever happened to him. He was not the kind of person who could tell to his friends that this big thing happened to him. No, that wasn't him. He was Ross. A normal guy. A geek for his friends. Maybe a hero for his son. A miracle to his parents. But he was normal.

He couldn't wake up every day wishing that something great was going to happen to him that day. He knew that he would wake up, he would dress up, go to work and the in the afternoon, hang out with his friends. That was what he used to do every day. Every day for the last God knows how many years. His daily basis would change when he was with Ben. He was the one who could change his plans. He always had something different to do, always something new to discover. And Ross loved to be the person sharing that with him.

He continued with his walk while he was thinking. He was so immerse on his thoughts that he didn't see a person coming on his way. The cause of that, he crashed into somebody.

"Oh God, I'm so sorry…" He said. In the crash with this person, everything that person was holding fell to the floor. And also her. He helped her with her belongings.

"It's nothing. I should be the one apologizing. I wasn't looking." She said, still collecting all her things.

When she took in her hands everything that fell to the floor, he got up and she did the same thing. But when she did she winced in pain.

"Ouch." She complained.

"Are you okay?" Ross asked her worried.

"Yes, it's just that my ankle hurts. I twisted my ankle when we crushed." She tried to massage the part of the ankle that was hurt. Ross looked at her feet. She was wearing very high heels. _'Not that difficult to twist you're ankle in those'_, he thought.

"Here, let me help you. I should take you to the hospital. I don't think it's broken, but maybe someone should take a look to that." Ross tried to help her.

"No, thank you, but I'll be okay." She didn't want to bother him with her problems.

"No, I want to help you. It was my fault and I should help you." Ross said.

At this she gave him a smile. That's when he got a good look of her, when he was able to look at her eyes. They were the most beautiful eyes he could ever see. Not only that. He could see that she had a nice body. Not that he was the type of guy who would mind if she had a good body or not. It was a plus. A very important plus, maybe? But her eyes. He was mesmerized with her eyes.

"Let me take you to the hospital." Ross said. And with that, he raised his hand and in a few seconds, a free cab stopped in front of them. Ross helped her to go into the cab, while he took all her bags. They were a lot and very heavy. He got inside the car after she did and told the driver to go to the nearest hospital.

* * *

In the hospital, Ross was in the waiting room. They wouldn't go in with that girl because he wasn't family. So he decided to wait there. Besides he still had all her bags with him. In the way to the hospital not many words were spoken. Ross would ask her if she was okay or if the ankle hurt and she would respond that she was okay. Besides that, nothing. He spent a long part of the riding looking at her, getting to imagine what would she be like.

He didn't want to imagine things that he shouldn't imagine. She was just a girl he crashed on, in a busy street. After this, they would forget about each other and they would continue their lives. But Ross couldn't stop thinking. And what if she's the one? What if she's the one who's been looking so hard?

He would ask those questions to himself, but also he would forget them as soon as they were asked in his head. Those were silly thoughts. He couldn't be thinking that way of her. What if she had a boyfriend or she was married? She seemed like the kind of woman who would be married by now. He tried to get a look at her finger, but it was impossible. He didn't want to be rude.

But now she was inside. She would be out in any moment and Ross didn't know what to do. What if she didn't want anything? What if…? Ross had a lot of questions, but no answers. And he needed answers.

Meanwhile, said girl was in a hospital bed. A doctor was looking at her ankle. They gave her an anti-inflammatory and she felt a lot better.

"Everything is okay. You should rest for a day and then you can continue with absolute normality with your life." The doctor said before he got out of the room. A nurse told her that she could go home.

In all the time the doctor was looking at her ankle, she couldn't help but think about the man who "rescued" her. Now she felt silly. She wasn't used to meet that kind of guys, the ones that would help you to the hospital. If he were a normal guy, he would leave her in the middle of the street, not caring if she was hurt or not. And now she was asking herself if he would be there, in the waiting room, waiting for her. _'Don't be silly, of course that he won't be there'_, she thought. After all it was the right thing to think, she couldn't think other way.

Ross was distracted from his thoughts when he heard some pair of heels. He immediately got up and smiled at her. _'He's here!'_. She couldn't be happier. Ross noticed that she was still limping.

"So, is everything okay?" Ross wanted to know.

"Yes, the doctor told me that I need to rest for a bit, but after that I'll be okay." She answered. "I just wanted to thank you. I'm sure that you had things to do and I ruined everything."

"Don't worry. I was going to spend the afternoon with my son, but I told him that I couldn't. it will have to be another day." He answered.

"Oh, I'm sorry I was the cause of that."

"Don't worry, everything's fine. Look, I don't want to be rude or anything, but here-" he took his card from his wallet "here's my card. Let me know how your ankle is. And also we could grab a cup of coffee or something." He tried to give her his best smile.

She took the card in her hands. That's when she realized something.

"Well, thank you. I just realized that we didn't even introduce ourselves." She said.

"Ross Geller." He offered his hand.

"Rachel Green." She gave him a handshake.

"Nice to meet you."

"Same here." She said with a big smile. "Okay, so I'll see you around. And thank you again." She told him as she disappeared.

And Ross looked at her. Maybe she could be the one.

End of Chapter 2.


	3. Date

**Okay, so I don't know if anyone is still interested on this fic, but I'll post this chapter to see what comes. My plans are to finish this fic, even if it takes me 5 years (I hope it doesn't take that long). I don't know if I said this, but my plan was to do about 6 chapters and I'll stick to that. Now, this is the third chapter. You'll let me know if you're interested or not. Anyway, here it goes the next chapter. And sorry if it took so long to update, blame the exams I had about three weeks ago :) I hope the next chapter doesn't take that long. Enjoy the update!**

**Making My Way To Your Heart – Chapter 3**

He couldn't stop thinking. Thinking about her. It was driving him crazy, but it was such a beautiful thought that he didn't want to stop. He tried to remember everything. Every little detail. Any detail about her. It didn't matter if it was big or small. If it was about her that was all that mattered.

He met her yesterday. Exactly 16 hours ago and in those 16 hours all he did was to think about her. From the hospital he went straight to his apartment. It's not that he didn't want to be with his friends, it's just that he wanted to think about her. He already called Ben telling him that he couldn't spend the afternoon with him and even if he was a little bit disappointed, Ross promised him that they would be together again in no time.

But at the moment Rachel was the only person in his thoughts. He gave her his card and he was wondering if she would call. Not that he had been looking to his phone every 5 minutes to look if he had a missed call, but he was starting to get worried.

He really liked her. It's true that they spent like 30 minutes together, while they were in the cab on the way to the hospital and after she was released. But those 30 minutes were enough for Ross, enough for him to think that she would be an important person in his life.

He liked her.

But he didn't know if she felt the same way. And that's why he was worried. If she liked him, maybe she would call. They should have a date already. But they didn't. No one called to him. Well apart from his mother, who used to call to him every day to check on him.

Ross also knew that he shouldn't expect much from her. Even if she liked him, maybe she had a boyfriend, which would be totally normal, because he was sure that she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. No one could ever compare to her. He had seen a lot of beautiful women, both in front of him and also on TV, but she was different.

He could tell that she was different. The way she would look at him through those big blue eyes, he couldn't explain the feeling. It was like she captivated him. With one simple look, she had to power to give him butterflies in his stomach. That feeling that could not be described with words. He couldn't put it into words, he would need actions. But for those actions he needed for her to call him.

And he knew that it would be impossible for him to concentrate in other things, but he tried to continue with his work. Dinosaurs would help him for a bit…

* * *

Rachel was having a hard time with her thoughts too. Her ankle was fine. The day at home, getting some rest made her good; she really needed one day away from work. Away from the world. Away from everything. It was her with her thoughts. Thoughts of him.

Since yesterday, she couldn't stop but think of him. And this was new for her. Every time she would have a date or she would meet someone new, she wouldn't think of them this way. She would go on a date with them, try not to bore enough and then look at her watch every 5 minutes to know when it was time to go home.

But this time it was different. Ross was different. The first impression she had of him was the best he could have. When she remembered those big puppy eyes, she would lose herself in those. They were the most gorgeous eyes she had ever seen. They looked very warm and she could tell that they were the mirror of his soul.

She wasn't used to this. Of course, when she was younger she had boyfriends and all of that. She was the head cheerleader of her High School. Everybody dreamed being with her, dating her and having more than one kiss with her. And at first, when you're a teenager, all of that is fun, a lot of fun. But now that she was older she wanted more. As time passed, she would need more in a relationship. She didn't want only a boyfriend, who would kiss her and please her when she needed it. She needed a friend. A friend that would be with her when she had a bad day or when she just needed someone to lean on when she was sad.

But in Long Island she was still Rachel Green, the dream girl for every boy. No one would treat her like a woman, like a woman should be treated. They still thought of her as someone who wanted the popularity, have lots of boyfriends and be in a lot of parties. For Rachel that ended a lot of time ago.

One day, she realized that a boyfriend should be with her a hundred percent. If one person was committed to her, they had to be with her. When she had a bad day or when she didn't feel well; she needed someone for those days, in which she knew that she could have some support. Someone who would tell her that everything was going to be okay, that one bad day was normal and that tomorrow would be a brand new day. Someone who would hug her because they just felt like doing that. Someone who could care about her.

Barry was the next person she found. Well, the next person her parents found for her. Since they were a pair of kids, their parents made a deal. Some day their kids would be married. Barry finished college and when he opened the clinic her parents thought that it was the perfect moment for her to link romantically with him. And that's what she did. She was in a time in her life in where she couldn't disappoint her parents. If that's what they wanted, then that was what she would give them.

They promised her that with Barry she would have the life she had always dreamed. A doctor for a husband. It was the dream of every girl. Of every girl who was fifteen. But when you're 25 you have other expectations. You want a friend. You want romance. You want love.

Barry was supposed to give her all of that and more.

But he wasn't the doctor she was looking for.

Rachel looked around her living room. It was rather messy. In the last few weeks, with work taking most of her time, she didn't have anything more to worry about. She knew that someday she would have to start to clean up all that mess. Only if she could hire someone to do that for her…

She was laid in her couch. It wasn't that big, but she could stretch her legs and that was enough for her. In front she had a large table. It used to be full of things, but now it was empty.

Well, almost empty.

There were only two items in there: the card Ross gave it to her the previous day and a phone.

Those two items had been there since she got home from the hospital. The moment she took the card from his hands, all she did on her way back to her apartment was to have it in her hands and stare at it. She didn't even notice that she got to her destination until the cab driver called her attention.

And now she was thinking about calling him or not. She knew that she liked him, that he could be the one she was looking for. But she has thought that every time she met a new guy. Why was it different with Ross?

When she thought about Ross, she would think about someone who would be in her future. And by future she meant some years in the future. In the past, when she thought about a guy that way, when she would stop to think about her future with that person, she would think if she would see him the next day. She wouldn't be very excited for her date and she knew that it would be horrible, which meant that she wouldn't have a call next day from that guy.

But Ross was different. She knew that he wasn't like those guys from her past.

She took the card in her hands again. She had done this movement about a thousand times today already. She would take it, look at the printed letters and then place it again in the table. This time, though, she took her time and looked to the letters.

_Dr. Ross Geller_

_Head Department of Paleontology, NYU_

_555-6546_

She knew what was written on the card since she took it for the first time. She had memorized. Every word, every letter, every number. Everything was in her mind. All she needed was to take the phone on her other hand and start dialing. She couldn't understand why it was so hard for her to take that phone. Maybe it was because she was very nervous and because she never liked a guy so much…

Slowly, she took the phone in her other hand. She took a last look at the card and started dialing. She waited for someone to pick up.

"Hello?" His voice entered in her ears. It was a soft as she remembered it.

"Hello Ross." She said.

"Who's this?" He said. He knew very well who that person was. He just couldn't believe she was calling.

"It's Rachel. The girl you helped to the hospital." She tried to sound as calm as she could.

"Oh, right" He said, trying to act like he just remembered who she was. "How is your ankle?"

"The ankle is fine, thank you for asking." She said, blushing a little bit. She didn't know why she felt like this, he couldn't even see her face.

"That's great."

"Yes it is." She said. A long silence filled the air. Rachel knew that she should say something, after all she was the one who called and she wanted to talk to him. "Listen, I wanted to call you to say thank you again. I'm sure that you're already tired of hearing that." She said with a little chuckle.

"Well, it's always nice to hear it again." He said smiling.

"And also, I was wondering if you would like to grab a cup of coffee with me." She said quickly. She didn't even know if he understood what she said. "For helping me yesterday." She added in a low voice.

Ross wasn't expecting this. Sure, she was a great woman that he really wanted to know, but he never thought that she would call him and even less that she would like to have a cup of coffee with him. Suddenly he realized that he had been thinking for a long time and that she was waiting for an answer.

"Oh, sure, yes. I would love to have a cup of coffee with you." He said.

"Great."

"There's this coffee shop that I know. It's really good. Maybe we could meet there?" He asked.

"Sure, that's okay. I'll go to work tomorrow, so we can meet there at 5. Is that okay?"

"Yes, perfect. Let me tell you the address." After he gave her the address of where they would meet, they both hang up the phone with wide smiles in their faces.

It's not that you find a nice person every day. And Ross and Rachel didn't know a lot about each other, they only could expect some things about the other one, but that was enough. Enough so that they could start dreaming about their future, hopefully together. It was soon to start thinking about that, but nobody was going to stop them for doing that. They were adults and they would have to deal with their own problem themselves.

* * *

Ross was getting more nervous every second. It was 4:13pm and he had been checking the time every 5 minutes for the last 3 hours. He arrived early from work to his apartment, so at first he didn't rush by getting ready. But later he realized that he had to do a lot of things before that. He considered buying some flowers to her. But then he considered that option again. They would meet in Central Perk and it was probable for his friends to be there. And if they saw him with a bouquet of flowers, they would start making fun of him. And he didn't want that. Besides, he wanted to give her some flowers when they were alone, so that it could be more intimate. Maybe he would have to wait for the second date…

He looked at the mirror for what it seemed like the hundredth time. He was wearing black pants, the last ones that he bought, matching with a white shirt and black shoes. He thought that he looked good, but he wasn't the one thinking that. Rachel was the one who had to like that.

He looked at the time again.

4:17pm.

Time was passing by very slowly that afternoon…

* * *

Rachel was as nervous as Ross was. Or even more if that was possible. After all the courage she took to make that phone call, she thought that everything would be easier, but she was wrong. After she hang up the phone all she could think about was Ross. But that wasn't a new thing. She spent every day, since she met him, thinking about him. It's not that she didn't like it. She was a little bit surprised. This never happened to her.

She had met a lot of people during her life, been in a lot of dates. But she never felt what she felt toward Ross. What surprised her was that why it was different with Ross. Why, so suddenly, she felt like she never felt before.

Was it his eyes? Or it was that he waited at the hospital for her?

She couldn't find the answer. At one point she just decided that she simply liked him. There wasn't any cause for that. She liked him. Sometimes things happen because they have to, and this was one of those moments.

But right now Rachel's main concern was the outfit.

Being always so perfect choosing what she had to wear and also working on fashion, she thought that wearing nice was a huge point, a very important point. Plus, this time it was even more important because she wanted to impress Ross.

She went to her room running since she knew that she was going to spend a lot of time choosing what to wear…

* * *

Ross sat on the orange couch of Central Perk. He had been sitting there for about 15 minutes. He knew he was early, but he couldn't stay at home anymore. This date was making him very nervous. He was already with his second cup of coffee, and even though he knew that he should take more because at night he would have serious problems to fall asleep, he couldn't help it.

He looked at his watch again.

4:58pm.

Two more minutes to go.

He thought that maybe Rachel would be late, since she's a girl and they're famous by being late to their dates. So he was prepared to wait a little more.

On the other side of the street, Rachel was getting out of the cab. She paid the driver and saw how the vehicle disappeared on the road. Then she saw the big letters.

_Central Perk._

There she was, as nervous as if she were fifteen years old having her first day with the boy she had a crush on. And that it's true. Except for the fact that she's not fifteen anymore. She had a crush on Ross and she was going to have a first date with him.

She crossed the street and tried to look inside the coffee shop. It didn't take long for her to notice him. All she could see it was the back of his head, but despite of that, she could tell the difference.

She took a deep sigh and head inside the door. _'Finally!'_ she thought.

"Ross?" she asked.

When he heard someone calling his name, he looked to the way the voice was coming and he saw her. He stood up quickly to greet her. She was as beautiful as he remembered, but somehow now she looked even more beautiful. He didn't understand how she was able to look so gorgeous, it was impossible to look that great. But she was, and she was there to be with him. He couldn't be luckier.

Rachel smiled at how he stood up. He almost lost control of his body with the action.

"Hey" he greeted her sweetly.

"Hi" she said.

"Take a seat please." he said pointing to her the orange couch, "Do you want something?" he asked.

"A coffee please"

"It's one the way"

She saw him go to the counter and observed how he ordered her coffee. When she first saw him, when they had their little 'accident', as she liked to call it, she thought that he was gorgeous. He was the most handsome man she had ever met. And his eyes. The most beautiful eyes someone could have in the world. They were warm, sweet and she could melt every time she looked at them.

She got out of her daydream when she felt someone seat next to her.

Ross handed her coffee.

"Thanks" she said as she took a sip.

'_Good coffee'_ she thought.

"I can see that your ankle is better" Ross said looking at her foot. She had very long legs.

"Oh, yes. It's a lot better, thanks" Rachel said.

An awkward silence was followed after that. Rachel continued sipping her coffee and Ross was looking anywhere but to her, when all he wanted to was to look into her eyes.

But he needed to say something. Something. It didn't matter if it was stupid or not. He needed something.

"So…" he started "do you work?" he said finally. _'Couldn't find a better question?'_ he thought.

"Yes, I work at Ralph Lauren." She explained.

"Wow, that's impressive. I've never known someone who worked in fashion."

"And where do you work?" Rachel wanted to know.

"Well, my job it's a lot more boring than yours. I'm sure that you won't like it."

"Try me."

"I'm a paleontologist." He said.

"Oh. And what is that exactly?" she asked with a smile.

"I teach about dinosaurs and stuff like that."

"Like dead things?"

"Yeah, you could say that. But I love it"

"So you a geek?" she said in the sweetest way possible, causing Ross to smile.

"Yeah, yeah. So now you're going to joke about that?"

"Maybe. If you let me."

"Well, you can. But don't do it a lot. I already have a lot with my friends."

"Okay." She said smiling.

It's like she couldn't stop smiling. It was contagious. He smiled and she would smile, and vice versa.

Ross was having a great time too. He never believed it would be so easy. In the past, whenever he had a date he would talk and talk about boring things. He even remembered talking about gas in one of his dates. But this was different. Maybe because Rachel was different.

From that moment on, the conversation was fluent. They talked about everything and catch up with their lives. They talked about the past, about the present and the future. About what they wanted and what they hated. About dates, girlfriends and boyfriends.

And it's not that they were having a bad time, but at some point they had to say goodbye for today. Being a weekday they had to work the next day, which meant that they had to get up early the next morning and it's not very nice to wake up with baggy eyes.

"Well, I had a great time" Ross said with a big smile on his face.

"Yeah. Me too" Rachel agreed.

"So… I'll see you sometime soon?" he wanted to know.

"Definitely"

And with a little kiss on his cheek she said goodbye.

Ross couldn't stop looking at her, the way she walked, the way her hips moved, he was captivated by her. He stopped looking at her when she was out of sight. But that didn't mean that he didn't have the right to think about her. He did think about her, all the time, and a lot. But there isn't anything wrong with that. Everybody has the right to think, right?

So Ross was going to keep thinking, thinking about her, just like Rachel was doing about him.

**End of chapter 3.**


	4. Surprise

**Hi! So finally the newest chapter of this story is here. I know that it took really long, probably longer than I expected, but it's here. The reason that it took so long is that I've been really busy with university and clearly I didn't have much time to sit down and write. Add to that the lack of imagination and not having a clear idea of I wanted to tell. Anyway, about a week ago I felt bad for you guys and decided to start writing again. I'm not very happy with the chapter, but I think that that's a feeling every writer has. The only thing I hope is that you like it and you're interested on reading it. Now enjoy and feel free to express your feelings on this one :) Also I don't know if you realized that the chapter is quite long. I don't know about you guys, but I LOVE long chapters. I hope you do too.**

**Now, enjoy! :)**

**Making My Way To Your Heart – Chapter 4**

"Hey Mon!" Ross greeted his sister when he entered her apartment.

"Good morning Ross" she said as she looked up from the kitchen, where she was cooking something.

"Is Chandler at home?" he asked her as he took a seat at the table.

"No, he had an early meeting and he left a while ago. Why?" Monica wanted to know.

"Nothing, I just wanted to ask him something." Ross said as he filled a cup with coffee. "And where is everyone else?"

"Joey had an audition and he left early too. You should see him, he was really nervous. He was so nervous that he even considered not having breakfast. Although, you know him, the minute he saw the pancakes he gave up to that idea." Monica said smiling.

"What about Phoebe?"

"I think that she spent the night at Mike's place, so I thought that maybe she would go to work straight from there."

"Oh. That's nice."

But as he finished his sentence Phoebe entered in the apartment.

"Hey!" she said cheerfully.

"Hi Pheebs." Monica said to her. "You're in a good mood today." she said noticing her friend's big smile.

"It's just that I had the greatest night ever." Phoebe started "You remember how I told you that Mike prepared a special night?" Monica nodded. "Well, I must say that it turned to be very special." She said, smiling even more. "He told me that he loves me!" she finished almost shouting.

"Wow! That's great honey." Monica went to hug her friend. "I'm very happy for you."

"So am I" Phoebe said as she broke the hug.

"So did you tell him that you love him back?" Monica wanted to know.

"Of course. I've been thinking about this lately. You know how much I liked him and I think that it took him a little bit longer because of his divorce. And also I wanted for him to be the first one to say that he loved me. Other way I knew that he would freak out and run as fast as he could and believe me, I can't lose Mike like that."

"Well, I'm very happy for you." Ross said.

"Thank you so much Ross."

"You're welcome." He said with a big smile on his face.

And that smile didn't go unnoticed by Phoebe. She knew that there was something different in that smile. She knew Ross. They had been friends for some time now and she had seen him smiling, crying, chuckling and sobbing. But that smile, there was something in that smile. Something that she didn't know. Because if Ross was smiling there had to be a reason and Phoebe hated not to know the reason of that smile. She had to know.

"And what about you Ross?" she asked as she took a seat next to him at the table.

"What about me?" he was confused now.

"Don't you have something to tell us?"

"Hmm, I don't think so."

"Are you sure?" Phoebe insisted.

"Yes." Ross was still confused, but he was grinning like an idiot.

"Are you really sure that there's nothing you have to share with us?" Phoebe insisted even more.

"Phoebe are you trying to tell me something?"

"Only if you have something to tell me."

"What?"

"What?"

"Phoebe what are you doing?" Ross didn't understand a thing about what was going on.

"I just want you to talk."

"About what?"

"About that." She said pointing his smile.

"You want me to talk to you about my mouth?"

"Ugh Ross. Sometimes I forget that you have a PhD. How can you be so dumb?" she said almost giving up with her idea. "Just tell me why you're smiling like an idiot."

Ross blushed when she said that. Phoebe saw everything.

"Ha! So I wasn't wrong. Something is going on with you." Phoebe said, now clearly interested on what Ross had to tell her.

Monica, who during their weird conversation had been cooking, now turned around to see what was happening between her brother and her friend. Ross, seeing the interest that his smile got, blushed even more. Not that he was shy in front of them, he just wanted to keep it as a secret for a while, but it seemed like his plan wasn't going to work. He would have to tell them everything and soon. If not it would be worse for him and he knew that.

"I…" he started carefully "I…"

"What? You what?" Monica was starting to get impatient.

"I… met somebody" he said very quietly.

"You met somebody?" Phoebe wanted to know if she heard it well.

Ross nodded shyly.

"And does this person have a name?"

Ross nodded again and silence followed. Phoebe and Monica were waiting for Ross to say the name of the mysterious person.

"Do we have to guess the name of that person or you're going to tell us?" Phoebe asked.

Ross looked at her.

"Rachel. Her name is Rachel." Ross gave up.

"And how did you meet her?"

"I met her accidentally. I was walking and suddenly crashed into her." he said with a big smile, although it disappeared while he continued talking "But because of that she fell down to the floor and twisted her ankle." He looked at Monica and Phoebe and he saw that they were still waiting for him to continue with the story. "Anyway, so I helped her to the hospital so that someone would see her and after she was released…" Ross didn't want to finish his sentence.

"What? What happened after that?" Monica was really curious now.

"Oh my god!" Phoebe suddenly said.

"What!" now Monica was the one who didn't understand a thing.

"I bet you proposed to her!" Phoebe said jokingly.

"Ha ha, very funny." Ross clearly didn't like the joke "I just gave her my number."

"So you're waiting for her to call you?"

"Actually, she called me the other day" Ross smiled at the memory.

"So you're going on a date with her today?"

At this point Phoebe and Monica were tired of making questions, not that they weren't happy for Ross, but man, he could say it everything all at once!

"Actually I had a date with her yesterday." Ross was grinning like an idiot by now.

"Oh, so that is what this is about?" Phoebe said. "The smiling like an idiot, the blushing… you are acting like an idiot because of this girl."

"Well Phoebe, that's because I really like her. And yes, I've might only been on one date with her, but I can see the difference. She's different." He said with confidence.

"But what about Emily?" Monica wanted to know.

"What about her?"

"You said the same thing when you met her, that she was different. You married her and then divorced her. And everything in less than 6 months." Monica said a little bit worried "Ross we love you and we want what's best for you, but please, don't make the same mistake again. We know how much Emily hurt you."

Ross got up from the chair and went to where Monica was. "Mon, I really appreciate what you're saying and yes Emily did hurt me, a lot. But that's in the past now. I can't live with the memory of Emily my whole life. She found someone else and so did I. And I have to live the present. Now things appear in my life and Rachel is one of them. I understand that you're scared because of what happened with Emily, but I'm telling you now and do not forget it. Rachel is different. I really like her and I think that she likes me too and I want to give this a chance. I promise that I'll take things slowly. I learned that rushing into things is only for the worse." He finished hugging his sister.

"Ugh!" Monica said breaking the hug. "I hate when you have everything figured out and no one can change your mind."

Ross kissed her on the cheek.

"Thank you."

"So how did the date go?" Phoebe did the question everybody was waiting for.

"It went well."

"Well? That's it?" Phoebe said surprised.

"What do you want me to say?"

"You give us that speech about this new girl being different, you have the creepiest smile on your face and all you say is that the date went well?" Phoebe said "I'm clearly disappointed Ross." She said while she crossed her arms.

"It went perfectly. It was the best date I had in years. No. It was the best date I've had in my life." Ross said looking at Phoebe. "Satisfied now?"

Phoebe took a while to think.

"Mmm… yeah!" she said finally.

Ross and Monica chuckled.

"And what now?" Monica asked. "Are you going to call her?"

Now Ross was the one who took a while to think.

"Yeah. Like I said, I want to give this a try." Ross said taking a seat again in the chair.

Monica and Phoebe gave him a look.

"What?" Ross asked when he saw the weird look they were giving to him.

Phoebe pointed the phone.

"Now?"

"Well, yeah!" Monica said.

"C'mon, you know that you want to do it." Phoebe tried to convince him.

"Look, I said that I want to give this a try, but I also said that I'm going to take things slowly, so just give me time." Ross tried to explain "Besides, I was thinking about giving her a little surprise."

"Oh, I love surprises." Phoebe commented.

"But, what kind of surprise?" Monica wanted to know.

"I don't know. Do I have to decide that now?" Ross was now a little bit unsure.

"Okay, you're right. Take things slowly. Take your time or whatever you need."

Ross sighed in relief.

"Look guys. I really appreciate that you're worried about me or you want what's best for me. But please, let me do this my way. I really think that this might be a good thing for me. And yes, I still need to know more things about her, but the few things that I know about her are enough for me. The only feeling that I've got is that the more I get to know her, the more I'll like her." Ross said, trying to convince them and partly also trying to convince himself.

"It's okay Ross. Take your time." Monica said.

"Thank you."

And now what?

* * *

Rachel was on cloud nine, to say the least. It's not that her life was perfect, but who knows? Maybe it was about to become perfect.

Yes, she only had been on one date with Ross, but it had been a great first date and she was hopeful he would call her to go out somewhere soon. As soon as possible.

She had been on many first dates. She still could remember all the boys who wanted to date her back in high school. She was the head-cheerleader, admired by girls, desired by boys. She had the perfect body, the perfect clothes, the perfect looks. Every girl wanted to be like her and she knew it. She knew that at one point of her life she could have everything she would want. But everything wasn't as perfect as everybody thought.

She never had a real friend, a friend she could talk to, about anything she wanted to. And her sisters didn't help either. They were much centered succeeding in high school, succeeding with boys. But they never bothered to talk to her when she was sad or to hug her when she needed one.

As for her parents it was the same thing. Her father was always busy with work. Being the head heart surgeon of the most important hospital of the city would keep him out of their house most of the time of the day and her mother was always with her girlfriends, which made Rachel to feel very lonely.

But when she started college her situation started to change a little bit. She got to know new people and she even got very close to a girl named Natalie. She could consider her a very dear friend. But they started to lose contact when Natalie had to move to London because of a famous scholarship. Apart from Natalie, she couldn't take to her friends about anything and she missed that.

She dated some guys during college too, she even had two serious relationships. But she never felt anything big.

Nothing like what she felt for Ross.

Is not that she was already madly in love with him. She liked him and that was a good start. In fact, the date she had with him it was the best first date she had in her life.

But for now she had to let those memories go away, since she had to focus on the meeting. Yes, it was being a boring day at work, but this was what she did for living and even if she didn't like it at some points, it was her dream. Finally she was in a big fashion company and not only that, she was succeeding at her work!

With a last memory of her date with Ross she paid attention to her boss, who was speaking about the new winter collection…

* * *

"And with the extinction of the Argentinosaurus we discovered that they weren't the only carnivorous in the Cretaceous Period." Ross concluded "We'll continue with the characteristics of the Thecodontosaurus tomorrow."

After he took all the papers in his desk, he thought about what he was going to do. It wasn't that he did this kind of things every day, but he felt like he could do it now. He never thought of him as a spontaneous person, he liked to have things planned, especially if he wasn't sure about it. And it's not like this wasn't planned. It sort of was. He had been thinking about it all day. The only thing was that he still didn't know how he was going to do everything and that kind of excited him.

He knew that he was risking. It was very risky to do what he was about to do. But life is full of risky moments, right?

And besides, he had nothing to lose. Or that's what he thought. Because he could lose everything.

He took his things and called for a taxi so that he could go home and change. If he really was going to do this he had to have nice clothes. And he was going somewhere where they paid attention how you were dressed.

In a matter of 30 minutes he took a short shower and changed to new clothes and hailed another cab. He thought about walking, but it was getting late and his plans could change.

After telling the cab driver the direction, he looked out of the window.

New York was a big city, full of people. Everybody was running, not even caring if they got hit by another person or if their belongings hit the floor. Stress was a feeling that every person in New York had in their veins. And even if Ross tried to stay as calm as he could, he couldn't help but start feeling nervous.

What if she didn't like it? What if…?

No. he couldn't think of that. In moments like this you have to think positively.

'Everything is going to be fine. She's going to love it.' He told himself.

Sooner than he expected the cab stopped and he found himself in front of the tall building. It seemed like the building was taller now, it seemed bigger to him. He had to let his fears to go away. Thinking this way wasn't going to help him. With much confident he took his first steps to the front door.

When he entered he needed to guidance. It was a big hall and he knew that if he didn't get any help, he would get lost over there. He found the reception desk and asked for a little help to the woman that was there.

"Good morning. I would like to know where I can find the Ralph Lauren offices." Ross said.

"Floor 18. The elevators are that way." She said pointing to her left.

Ross, following the direction the receptionist was pointing, took his way into the elevators. Once that he got inside, there was no going back. This was it. He was going to do it.

He even felt weird about feeling this way. It's not that he had plans of proposing or anything. What he was about to do was very simple. But he only had been in one date with Rachel and every little step, just like this one, seemed like the biggest step someone could take in a relationship.

Relationship.

He liked that word. He didn't want to have false hopes about that, mostly because a relationship is formed with two people. He was only one of them.

Was this the start of a relationship with Rachel?

It was unbelievable how Rachel could make him think that way. He was really considering having a relationship with her. And he didn't even have her opinion on that subject. What if she wasn't looking for a relationship? Maybe she wasn't, but also he could make her think differently.

Absorbed in his thoughts, he didn't even notice that he was reaching her floor and he still didn't decide what he was going to tell her. Being this a spontaneous action he thought that maybe he could also be spontaneous at the talking. But he knew very well that being spontaneous in a conversation wasn't his thing and even less if he was having that conversation with the woman he'd been thinking non-stop for the last few days.

'Ding.'

The sound of the elevator reaching the floor made Ross think of the moment. He didn't have time for this, no more thinking. All he wanted to do was to surprise her and that's it. All he prayed now was that everything would turn out fine…

Rachel was at her office, taking a last glance to the pile of papers in her desk. It was a huge pile and they needed to be ready for her boss by the end of the week, which meant that she had only two more days to finish that work. 'It's impossible', she thought.

Ugh! She would give anything to be out of her office right now.

Right after she gave up the idea of being out of her office she heard a soft knock on her office door.

"Come in" she said.

Ross opened the door slowly.

"Good morning" he said with a smile.

Rachel was clearly surprised.

"G-good morning" she said, almost babbling.

"Is this a bad moment?" he said pointing the pile.

"Well…" she didn't know what to say.

"Hey, don't worry. If it's not okay I can come back in some other time."

"No, no!" she almost shouted and sounded a little bit desperate "It's just that I have to send all of that to my boss before the end of the week," she explained "but most of it it's done, so it's okay." She lied.

"Oh. Well then… umm…" he started.

"Yes Ross?"

"I just came here to ask you something" he was starting to get nervous, much more than he was already.

She wore a bigger smile, which encouraged Ross to continue.

"I just wanted to ask you if you would like to have lunch with me" he finished, a little bit shy and looking to the floor.

Rachel was clearly surprised. Here was this guy, who she'd been thinking about all the time since she met him, asking her to have lunch with her. Yes, she had a lot of work and she also knew that it was impossible for her to finish that in time. Unless she asked for a little help… she would have to bribe some of her co-workers in the afternoon.

"I would love to have lunch with you" she said.

And those were the words Ross wanted to hear.

* * *

They didn't go to a fancy restaurant, neither he had a basket full of food prepared specially for this. Having a nice weather, they decided to buy some sandwiches and eat them while taking a short walk in Central Park.

They didn't speak a lot while they were walking and it's not that it was awkward. They liked each other, even if it was secretly, but there were feelings involved. Sometimes you don't have to talk to the person you like all the time.

Ross couldn't help but watch at her all the time. From the moment he saw her for the first time that day at her office, he was mesmerized. He thought that he could spend the rest of his life watching her and that would be more than okay. I mean, who wouldn't like that? She was incredibly gorgeous and really funny too, that last feature only based on the unique date they had. But Ross well knew that that one date had been more than enough for Rachel to be different. Hell, their first encounter was already enough.

As for Rachel, she never thought she would be this shy around a person. Back in high school she was really good with people and never had a problem when it came to make new friends, most of the times she was the one who would take the first step. So what had changed since high school? Why wasn't she able to speak a word in front of Ross? She was sure that liking him had to do something with that.

He looked very handsome that particular day. It's not that she didn't think that already, she was sure that he was probably the most handsome man she had ever met. But today was different.

And she liked it.

"Do you mind if we take a seat?" his voice startled her.

She was so absorbed in her thoughts that barely heard his voice.

"Sure."

They took a seat in a near bench.

Ross took his sandwich and gave it a big bite. As he did so, Rachel's mind continued working, but there were some questions that needed to be answered by him.

Even if it took her a while to start talking, she thought that she would have to do it, sooner or later.

"So…" she started "why did you come to my office today?" she wanted to know.

"Didn't you like the surprise?" Ross suddenly feared.

"No, no, no. Don't think that." She tried to calm him "It's just that I didn't expect that."

"I just felt like surprising you." He shyly answered.

"Oh." She said "Well, I must say that it was a nice surprise." She finished with a smile.

"Yeah?"

"Yes" she said sweetly.

"I just want you to know that I don't do this every day or with everybody."

"I see."

"Since that date we had I couldn't stop thinking about you and I even thought calling, but I preferred the idea of seeing you personally."

"That-that's really sweet." She said having a hard time thinking of the right words.

"I never thought that I could like someone as much as I like you, even after one date, but it's the truth."

"Oh."

"And I don't want to scare you or anything. I've learnt from the past that rushing into things isn't a good thing." He said.

She was clearly surprised by his words. It's not that she didn't feel that way, it's just that she never thought he could feel that way. And it excited her.

"Wow. This, this is very interesting" she started "I didn't know you felt that way." She said looking into his eyes. They were the most beautiful eyes she had ever seen.

"How could I not?" he said "You're one of the most amazing people I've met in a long time."

She smiled at his answer. But also at the same time she didn't know what to say. She wasn't afraid of him but she was afraid of her feelings. She knew that her feelings for him were growing every second she spent with him, and they grew even more when she wasn't with him. It had been a long time since she had been on a serious relationship. Yet, it never involved so strong feelings. What if it didn't work out? What if at the end of their relationship they couldn't stand each other?

What if their relationship was destined to have an end?

She couldn't think of that.

"I really appreciate you for telling me those things" she started confessing "and I also want you to know how I feel for you." she looked into his eyes again "Look, I haven't had a serious relationship in a long time, which might me unbelievable for you but it's my reality. That doesn't make me feel like I can't trust someone easily. I can. I just don't feel like it most of the times. Correction, I just don't feel like it all the time. But life has taught me that there are some exceptions. And those exceptions happen because they have to. You don't look for them, but they happen." she looked away from him for a moment, closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She took his hand and started talking with a small voice. "Lately I discovered that you are my exception. I didn't look for you, but you came into my life, suddenly and even if at first I doubted about you, after that date we had, I just knew that I had to give you a try. I saw that you're worth a try. I can see that you're different, I saw that the moment you helped me to the hospital. You did something that most people wouldn't do. And you waited until they released me. You waited at the waiting room and you'll never know how much I appreciated that. Then you called me and asked me for a date and I was the happiest person in the world." At this point she wasn't afraid of anything. If he was able to open his heart, then she was too "And I finally discovered that I like you." She finished.

"Wow" he said after he took a moment to absorb her words.

"I know" she said with a smile.

Now he was the one who looked into her blue eyes.

"So you like me?" he said those words, not even believing that he was saying them.

She nodded.

"And I like you." He stated.

She nodded again.

"As you said earlier, that's interesting."

She laughed.

It's not that he never thought what it would be like kissing her, but now finally he considered on doing so. It felt like the perfect moment. They just opened their hearts and he well knew that it would be a great thing to discover what he lips tasted like. And he also wanted to give her another surprise and see how she would react to this one.

Slowly he started to get closer to her. She still had his hand on hers, so they were a little bit close. Ross felt like she started getting closer to him too and not being able to wait anymore to feel those lips, he closed his eyes and moved closer to her.

Just when their lips were almost touching and he was about to discover how her kisses tasted, his phone started ringing.

Not expecting for his phone to ring at such important moment, he jumped on the bench, which made Rachel smile. She also wanted for him to kiss her, she wanted to feel those lips too, he wasn't the only one. But it was clear that the call killed their special moment.

"Hello?" Ross answered his phone and listened to the voice on the other line "Okay, I'll try to be there as soon as I can." He said and with that he ended the call. He then looked at Rachel. "I'm sorry about that."

"Don't worry" she said with a smile.

"It was from work. I have to go back to there."

Just then Rachel realized that she had a job too.

"Yeah, and I should go back to mine too" she said looking at her watch and realizing that her lunch break was almost over.

The stood up from the bench.

"So… I'll see you soon?" Ross wanted to know.

"Definitely." She said.

And with a final kiss on his cheek, which took him by surprise, she left.

Again, Ross couldn't help but watch her how she left.


End file.
